Chapter 462
Chapter Title: The Nameless Hero
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After the opening ceremony for the second semester ended.
Students, done with their academic orientation, began trickling into the dormitory building.
“Home sweet home!”
Iliana, the first to burst into Glory Dorm, dove onto the common room sofa.
“I missed this common room sofa so much~”
Iliana rolled around on the sofa as if it were her own private lounge.
The other students, well-acquainted with her antics, settled into their usual spots around the common room.
“Hey, how was your training retreat?”
“What was it like meeting the Brave Hero in person? Does he have a powerful presence?”
“I’m so jealous! I wish I had been there!”
Students swarmed around those who had participated in the training retreat.
They were eager to ask all the questions they couldn’t during the packed opening day schedule.
And at the top of their list of curiosities was, of course, Ar-on.
Seeing her dorm mates gather around her, Iliana sat up on the sofa, straightened her back, and spoke with an air of dignity.
“If you wish to know, then you must present me with offerings of cookies and tea.”
The moment she finished speaking, the classmates who had gathered around Iliana coldly turned away and approached Chen Xia and Chloe instead.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some snacks while we talk.”
When Chloe said this with a smile, the others cheered and rushed off to the snack bar.
“Why is it that when Chloe says it, everyone jumps to it?!”
“That’s because you told them to bring snacks just for you.”
“Yeah, it’s not like you’re a pig or anything.”
“Where do I look like a pig?! And what kind of awful thing is that to say to a lady?!”
Iliana wildly swung a cushion she grabbed at the jeering male students.
“Everyone’s so lively.”
Leo said with a smile as he entered the dorm common room.
“Leo, we were just about to talk about what happened at the retreat. Come over here.”
Chloe smiled and patted the spot on the sofa next to her.
At that, the noisy atmosphere of the common room instantly fell silent.
Chloe and Iliana looked puzzled by the sudden change.
“I’m going to head up and rest early today.”
“You’re turning in very early.”
As Chen Xia, who was standing nearby, tilted her head, Leo said.
“The opening ceremony was hectic, so I'm a bit tired.”
“I see. As the student council president, the schedule must have been tiring. Is there anything you need? I can bring it to your room.”
“I'm fine.”
As Leo went up to his room, the slightly strange atmosphere eased a bit.
Chen Xia came back into the common room and sat in a rocking chair to the side. Chloe, looking puzzled, asked,
“What’s with everyone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone's acting awkward around Leo.”
Seeing Chloe ask with a puzzled face, the Glory students scratched their heads.
“You guys might not feel it as much since you were at Leo’s house during the retreat and all summer break.”
One of the male Glory students scratched his cheek.
“Things have gotten completely crazy.”
At those words, Chloe and Iliana looked at each other.
“At first, the only thing people cared about was the story of the primordial evil returning and Ar-on defeating it.”
Chen Xia said.
“But as time went on, and the world’s leading hero guilds began vying for Young Master Leo, the world’s attention gradually shifted to him.”
It was just as she said.
The public, once captivated solely by the new epic of the Great Hero who saved the world, had now turned its focus to the existence of Leo.
“Afterward, when his name was added to the Hero Record, countless people began to get excited about Young Master Leo.”
The world always hopes for the birth of a new hero.
Especially if it's a hero whose deeds rival those of the heroes of legend and myth.
Until now, Leo’s status was still that of a hero candidate.
This world is one where only those recognized by the gods and whose names are recorded in the Hero Record are revered as true heroes.
As such, no matter how much he conquered the World of the Great Hero and achieved great deeds, in the eyes of the people, Leo was nothing more than a promising hero candidate.
But now, he was registered in the Hero Record.
The way people treated him was bound to change.
Before, he was a classmate, but now things were different.
“Leo has already reached the level we spend our entire lives aiming for.”
The male student scratched his head.
“It’s like, I knew he was amazing before, but now… it feels like he’s untouchable?”
Another female student sighed softly.
‘Indeed, Young Master Leo now stands in a position that students can’t even dare to look up to.’
Even she, the top of the second-year Knight Department, couldn't dare to fathom Leo’s skill.
To the other students, he must seem to be at a height they could hardly even gaze upon.
“Leo’s school life is definitely going to be completely different from now on.”
Chloe murmured, lost in thought.
“Because those who want Leo will act even more openly.”
Hearing that, Iliana made a slightly sullen face.
“Yeah, even the ones who were just testing the waters before will start making more blatant moves.”
Chen Xia tilted her head at Iliana’s muttering.
“Miss Iliana, do you dislike that?”
“Yeah, I do. I guess I shouldn’t go near you starting tomorrow, Chen Xia.”
Hearing the incomprehensible words, Chen Xia looked confused.
“By the way.”
Chloe, who had been pondering, blinked her blue eyes and looked at the students.
“So, what exactly is Leo’s epithet?”
***
Two women greeted Leo as he entered his room.
They were none other than Mel and Enkinias, the one she had designated as her successor.
“Mel, I get, but why are you here, En?”
“I have received orders from the Lord to stay here and assist you.”
At that, Leo looked at Mel.
“En is a capable child, so she will surely be a great help to you, Leo.”
“You can think of me as your personal secretary.”
Leo let out a small laugh at her words.
“As a secretary, what can you do for me?”
“Specifically, I can attend your lectures, complete your assignments, do your homework…”
“That’s just a list of school rule violations.”
“I thought these were the things students would dislike the most.”
“And you say that so easily with a professor right in front of you.”
“The Lord taught me that it’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.”
“You taught her well.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Leo clicked his tongue as he looked at Mel, who was feigning shyness.
‘How does she manage to imitate the crafty ways of deceiving others so well? Is this a racial trait of dragons?’
Lisinas, who was called the King of Wisdom and the Light of Hope.
She seemed like a just and fair leader, but in reality, she was a master of all sorts of tricks and fraud.
‘Well, she did pull off a lot of tricks and scams made from the truth. In any case, she’s good at picking up the bad habits.’
Sighing softly, Leo looked at En.
‘She's certainly capable.’
She had played a major role in the previous battle against the fragment of Erebos.
‘Since Mel chose her as her successor, she's bound to be competent. But crucially, her unique magic will be a great help.’
En’s unique magic, Mirror.
It was a magic that allowed her to perfectly imitate the appearance of others.
“Well, if you're offering to help, I have no reason to refuse. I'll be in your care.”
At his words, En bowed her head deeply.
“By the way, Mel. Did you check the Hero Record with my name in it?”
Leo still hadn't checked the Hero Record where his name was written.
“Yes.”
“What exactly did it say?”
“Only your name was written.”
At that, Leo fell into thought.
When Leo heard the news that his name was written in the Hero Record, he was surprised.
On one hand, he was worried his identity might be revealed, but it seemed there was no need for such concern.
“Why is only my name written? Has there ever been a hero in history who only had their name listed in the Hero Record?”
“There has never been such a case before. You’re the first in history, Leo.”
Leo was lost in thought at Mel's answer.
‘My name is already written in the Hero Record.’
The first hero ever recorded in the Hero Record.
‘Besides, I’m also the master of the Hero Record.’
In such a situation, only his name was written, without any epithet or great deed.
‘She said it was written on the last page.’
“Leo, this is just my opinion, but…”
“Go on.”
“Perhaps your name was written because you wished for it?”
Mel also knew that Leo was the master of the Hero Record.
Moreover, Leo had rewritten the Hero Record several times.
He had recorded not only the Book of Shadows but also the stories of heroes who were active in the past, during the Age of Calamity.
He had also revived the record of Seirun, the Comet Wizard, which had been burned and lost.
Those are not the records of the gods.
They are records written by Leo Flove, the master of the Hero Record.
“Hmm. That’s a plausible theory.”
Leo stroked his chin and chuckled.
“A nameless hero, huh? Not bad.”
“There are many splendid epithets. Don’t you covet any of them?”
“Not really.”
“That’s just like you, Leo. Everyone else covets the epithets bestowed by the Hero Record.”
“I already have a perfectly fine epithet, the Hero of the Beginning. It's ridiculous to covet a name given by the gods like a child.”
En, who was listening to their conversation, opened her mouth.
“In the first place, I believe any embellishment before your name is meaningless.”
En said with a deadpan expression.
“Because you are a noble being by your very existence. You are the greatest among all who exist in this world.”
“En gets it!”
Mel smiled brightly.
En already knew Leo’s true identity, having heard it from Mel.
“Hoh.”
Leo, who had been impressed by En’s words, chuckled.
“Then who's greater, me or that girl Lisinas?”
“That would obviously be the King of Wisdom.”
*Thwack!*
“Why did you hit me?”
Mel, who had been flicked on the forehead, clutched her head with a pained expression.
“For educating your successor poorly. Just a moment ago, she said I was the greatest in the world, and now she's changed her tune.”
“That is because Lord Lisinas passed away long ago.”
En answered with an unwavering expression.
Leo, who had been clicking his tongue at En, asked Mel.
“Who do you think is greater, me or that girl Lisinas?”
“That would obviously be Lord Lisinas.”
Knowing she would be hit, Leo mercilessly thumped Mel on the head as she stubbornly stuck to her convictions.
After the conversation about the Hero Record.
Leo spoke.
“Mel.”
“Yes, Leo.”
“Using your authority as the Lord, dispatch dragons across the world.”
“Is this to prepare for a possible invasion from Tartaros?”
Leo narrowed his eyes at Mel’s question.
“There probably won’t be a large-scale invasion from Tartaros like you’re imagining.”
“Pardon?”
Mel looked puzzled.
“The Necromancer King is a more insidious bastard than you think.”
Leo clicked his tongue.
“5,000 years ago, when Tartaros's power was incomparably stronger than it is now, the demons still couldn’t overcome Gardsrone, the world’s last bastion. And that was when our side had fewer people and fewer resources than we do now.”
“That’s because back then, you, Lord Lisinas… and the other Great Heroes were still around.”
“It’s not like we were strong enough to overturn the state of the world from the very beginning.”
We grew stronger by overcoming countless battlefields and moving forward.
“I always say this, but we couldn’t have saved the world with our strength alone. We weren’t the only ones who never gave up and bet everything for the world.”
Leo recalled the comrades who had stood with him on the battlefield.
“The Necromancer King knows. He knows the true strength of heroes. In the current situation where everything is lacking, he will never choose an all-out war. But he won’t stay idle either. Now that one of Erebos's fragments has been subjugated, he’s the one who’s taken the biggest hit.”
“In that case…”
“He’ll dig even deeper into the world’s shadows. Machinations are his specialty.”
The fact that Tartaros usurped the lands of countless powerful races was none other than the Necromancer King’s achievement.
The Necromancer King offered those usurped lands to Erebos as kindling.
“Even now, with his authority weakened by Erebos’s seal, his power is still a threat.”
The Necromancer King’s authority to rule the dead.
“We don’t know how he has developed that authority over the past 5,000 years. Moreover.”
Leo clicked his tongue.
“The fact that one more fragment of Erebos has been revived means it wouldn’t be strange for another fragment to revive at any time.”
It took 2,000 years for the first fragment to revive, and then another 3,000 years passed before another fragment revived.
The revival of the next fragment could take thousands of years.
But…
“It could also be just around the corner. If that happens, we have to subjugate it before Tartaros does, just like this time.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And one more thing.”
Leo said, looking down at his palm.
“We need to find their pages.”
Mel knew immediately what pages Leo was talking about.
“Of course, you’re probably already looking. But I want you to put more effort into it. Preferably, the pages of the final chapter.”
“If Tartaros finds out, they’ll move even more openly, won’t they?”
“Then all the better.”
Leo clenched his fist.
“If they make a big move, they’re bound to leave a trail. We’ll focus our forces wherever they stir things up. For that, at least, they’ll have to come at us with everything they’ve got.”
For Tartaros, the appearance of the Great Hero who disappeared 5,000 years ago in the present day is a complete disaster.
“Now that my identity is known and our cards are on the table, there’s no need to hold back anymore.”
Leo’s red eyes flashed.
“From now on, the hunt for the Necromancer King begins in earnest.”